Well friends, it has been 2 months since I wrote my last post on “Coffee…no sugar?” and I have been going strong without hesitation on holding the sugar in  my coffee. I firmly believe now that at one point what I thought was impossible to do has been done with enthusiasm and confidence. I never thought I could have my coffee without sugar or some kind of sweetener in it. When I say ‘no sugar’ I mean no sweeteners of any kind, artificial or otherwise. Of course in light of this, I have also cut out artificial sweeteners from my diet. I have been very conscious in avoiding products with artificial sweeteners in it and now that I have been away from it for 2 months, as soon as I taste it, it tastes extremely sweet to me and unnatural. My favorite was fruit yogurt not knowing it contains aspartame and other artificial ingredients outside of real yogurt. I’ve found that I’m getting much less of the yogurt and a lot more of the artificial ingredients and preservatives. Who needs that?

Getting back to coffee however, I plan to continue having coffee without sweeteners. I’ve experimented and tried different things as I went along to see my reaction towards natural sweeteners in the coffee. I tried putting natural raw honey in it, it was fine but I found I preferred no sweeteners and that I liked the taste of coffee (with milk) as it was. I also tried organic evaporated cane juice granuals and I found I didn’t need any sweeteners in my coffee after all. Oh well, I’ll use it for something else. I actually discovered a new product which I had not known existed here in the U.S. since I have known about it in India and currently use it in a different form. The evaporated sugar cane juice that I bought in its granular form is a sweetener called “gur” or jaggery very well known to Indians. It is available abundantly in India and is very inexpensive. It has been used for centuries to sweeten cooking dishes and desserts. I was very surprised to have found this “gur” in the supermarket. I liked the granular consistency which can be used by the spoon.

This type of doing led me to reading about the power of your mind and what it is capable of given the determination. That book will be a separate post coming up soon. For now though, I am happy to say that I am free from sugar cravings!! I can walk down the cookie, dessert or bakery isles in the supermarket and I am not craving or salivating over the sweet stuff. I do not have the urge to buy them and bring them home. I walk by them now and look at all those products in awe thinking how unhealthy they are for you and instead of seeing them as cookies, etc. I see the list of 20 or more ingredients that I do not recognize. What a transformation. I feel strong and empowered and in control of my body…and mind. So the “I” in control of “my” are two different things. The “I”, is the consciousness in control of “my” which is the form “my body”, “my mind”, etc. I am that consciousness that is aware of such things. I can never look at myself the same way again!

After this experiment, I can’t help but think about how much sugar is added in a cup of tea in India!! It should be illegal. If sugar prices were raised for sugar, its consumption would be reduced significantly.

This often occurs where as soon as you hear, read or see something of interest and learn more about it, you are bombarded with it afterwards. I’ve learned that to be true. Now I come across books, articles, movies, clips, etc. on mindfulness. So, in this way while browsing through a magazine I found this book called ‘Eating Mindfully’ to be interesting. I bought it and read the entire book in a couple of weeks…I know not a couple of days as I still need to learn a lot about focusing and being mindful without being distracted. It’s a daily practice.

So, what is eating mindfully? Mindfulness is pure awareness. Mindful eating is eating with full awareness. When you are eating you are aware of the food itself, smell, texture, quantity, portion, color and your own body’s needs. You are aware of your hunger and where the hunger comes from. It is about why you are eating. Are you hungry? How hungry are you? What portion or food would satisfy this hunger at this time? Do you have the craving to eat because you just passed by bakery or saw a picture of a fresh looking slice of pizza? Or do you want to eat because someone in the office brought in muffins and they are sitting there ever so near you? These are some of the questions you need to be aware of at the time you are about to get something to eat. Learning why and how to eat and not so much what to eat. Why eat? This is a very good question to ask yourself as soon as you have the feeling you want to eat. You need to eat to satisfy yourself and not stuff yourself or be overly full. How you eat is very important. Eat slowly, chew thoroughly and enjoy your food. Be aware of the taste, smell, texture, color, shape, how it feels in your mouth while you chew it and notice the need to swallow before chewing completely. Be aware of all of that. After being aware of it each time you put a bite into your mouth it will become second nature. You will find that you are satisfied after eating half the amount you ate before because you saw what you ate and chewed it thoroughly.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Be kind to yourself
• Do not make internal negative comments
• Wait until you are hungry to eat
• Eat whenever you are hungry
• Tune into your body to recognize the hunger and what type it is
• Think about what would satisfy you at this time and eat that particular food
• Sit down to eat with a smaller portion than you normally would
• Eat without distraction of reading, TV, music, talking
• Look at the food and the portion
• As you take your first bite, chew it thoroughly until it is mush
• Put your fork, spoon down between bites and enjoy each bite
• Be aware as you swallow and as the food enters your stomach
• You should start to feel satisfied as you take a few bites
• After a few bites, ask yourself how hungry you still are
• Stop eating when you are 3/4 full
• After 20 minutes you may feel completely full as it takes that long for our brain to send the message
• Visualize the food going into your body and how it will be used for energy
• Be aware of how your stomach feels and becomes fuller as you eat and hunger dissapating

I have been trying to focus on being aware of these points. I find that if I listen to my body and mind they are sometimes very different in what they say. My mind may want chocolate but my body does not care one way or another. Although I find that if I eat it mindfully, I really do not want a whole lot after all. A small piece or a bite or two satisfy me as I savor it. I try not to deny myself of much unless it is unhealthy. In the process I’ve adopted a healthy eating habit.  I visualize what is inside the food and how it will affect my body and react with it. I picture fries and visualize the oil inside of it as it is being fried, the oil on my fingers, the oil that erupts in my mouth as I bite it, and in my stomach.

This can be a daily awareness exercise from morning to your last meal of the day.

There is so much to revere in the subject of mindfulness! Years ago, when I was an adolescent, I was in India at my grand- parent’s house visiting them. While there, my simultaneously young cousin comes out from a closed room. I wondered what she was doing in there by herself. She revealed the mystery on coming out and said in our native Gujarati, “I meditate for 20 minutes every day.” I didn’t think much about it at the time nor did I ask questions. She said when she meditates for 20 minutes, she feels as relaxed and rested as if she had slept for 8 hours of blissful sleep. However, we all know that sleeping does not always equate to getting the rest we need. We toss and turn, have dreams, nightmares and do not always sleep well through the night. Years later, I cannot help but clearly remember her words and how true they were now that I too meditate and know more about it and its benefits. Although I still wonder how she became interested in meditation at such a young age. I wonder if she still meditates! I will definitely be asking her that the next time I see her.

I’ve become really interested in meditation and pranayam as of late and cannot help but realize there is so much goodness in it that is at our disposal if we choose to take advantage of it. In my travels, I came across this little book called “The Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thick Nhat Hanh. If you want to learn and are curious about what mindfulness is, read this book! Mindfulness IS meditation. You will be surprised as to what meditation really is and how it can be practiced. I truly enjoyed this book.

Like me, if you’re a fan of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings, you may have heard that Eckhart Tolle TV is launching its membership to the public on June 1, 2009. See Eckhart Tolle TV Site. It’s an exciting venue to be able to have access to his teachings, seminars, talks, Q&A and more and bring the community together for forums as well. I had hoped that I would not have to travel to one of his meetings or simply read his books as I really enjoyed him speak on the subject on Oprah.com webcasts. He has a peaceful, soothing way of talking about the most difficult topic of awakening and awareness. Upon listening to him though, it does not seem as difficult and the world begins to feel they can do this for themselves and the community. It’s a great new beginning and I’m very excited!

Check current broadcast schedule for the upcoming program in March 2009.

Well, I’ve suggested to all of my friends and readers of this site to take advantage of one of the best books I’ve ever put my hands on…and that too by chance. I tried to think back how and when I came to know about this book and how I became interested in it which led me to buy this amazing book and the webcasts on Oprah.com simultaneously! I couldn’t quite figure out what led me to this, other than it was meant for me to read it, that I was ready to be awakened and was ready to absorb what Eckart Tolle had to say in this book. I believe you stumble upon things that are meant for you to experience and the finding of this book is one such incidence. I have always been interested in spiritual reading but I have never read a simple, clearly written book like “A New Earth…Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.” I recently finished reading the book and I loved it. I immediately wanted to start reading it over again the second time because there must be some things in it that I may have missed. There is a lot of good to take away from this book and I am sure I will discover new things as I read it again. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Read the first chapter and see if it grabs your attention. If if does, read on, if not, then you are likely not ready yet. The webcasts are still available on Oprah.com as is on iTunes for download. These are interesting segments as the author, Eckhart Tolle and Oprah discuss each chapter of the book. I feel that I was to read the book because I discovered his first book “The Power of NOW”, heard the audio version of it a couple of weeks before this one and then very soon after, heard about the webcasts on Oprah.com. It fell into place nicely and I really enjoyed the experience.

If you’re of an Indian origin…or Indian, you’ve often asked yourself this question. Or better yet, you’ve wondered why your fellow Indians are the way they are! After all, that is what this book is about - lack of self-regulation and pouring all the obligation on others and not taking responsibility for change. Written by V. Raghunathan, an academic at IIM ( Indian Institue of Management), Ahmedabad for two decades. He uses the props of game theory and behavioral economics to give an insight into this most difficult question: Why are we the way we are?

“Game theory is nothing but economists’ term for what psychologists call the theory of social situations. And behavioral economics is the interaction between psychology and economics that tries to explain how human limitations and complexities affect choice.” In the book, our rationality, irrationality, selfishness, egotism, competition and our aversion to cooperation and collaboration are explored and discussed. He talks about how a little self-regulation can change the face of the largest democracy in the world. Why are we so individually smart and collectively naive?

This is a very interesting book and a quick read which will satisfy the soul such as mine who has always wondered if there was anyone out there that wondered and asked the same question? Well, there is and I am glad! The author discusses why we cut queues, throw garbage in our neighbor’s yard, drive with high beam at night, cut red traffic lights and other interesting queries. Check out the book if you’re curious - it’s available from sellers of Amazon.com!

Based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life. This is one of the best films I’ve seen and loved every minute of it! It is one film everyone must see as we tread through this materialistic society, world and everyday life searching and acquiring for things that we perceive to fulfill our void, not knowing the void. It is a pit that is never filled nor satisfied and we are trapped in a whirlwind of “fitting in” type of society. I was ecstatic as I watched this film. I couldn’t believe there is a movie I would love so much. It coincides very well with the topic of my site, in particular, with “simple living.” It is right in line with Oprah and Eckhart Tolle’s webcast every Monday night on Eckhart’s book “The New Earth.” I wonder what else I will discover in the coming weeks that repeat the same message to me!?

Year: 2007
Director: Sean Penn
Cast: Emilie Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone